USEworthy February 2003
The monthly Newsletter from The Usability Company
Welcome to February's edition of USEworthy. This
month we have a major announcement as Marty Carroll, Director of
the Usability Practice, has had a paper published titled -
Usability and Web Analytics: ROI justification for an Internet
strategy. It has been published in the Interactive Marketing
Journal and a short introduction and a link to a downloadable
version is provided below.
We also hear about
the "Interface: User and Machine" Conference held in
November 2002, and Chaired by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh. In addition Catriona Campbell our CEO has been busy
when The Usability Company was invited to represent the UK at the
European Usability Forum held in Vienna, December 2002. You can
find out what that conference was all about below.
We also bring you up to date with the latest news at The
Usability Company and finally Arlene Kline adds the fourth and
final part to our series on accessibility, this month covering the
moral argument surrounding website accessibility.
Company News
Here is a round up of news and announcements within
The Usability Company during the past month.
Shelter contract win: Shelter uses The Usability Company to
consult its web users
Shelter has awarded The Usability Company its contract for the
provision of usability services and consulting on two of its
websites – www.shelternet.org.uk and
www.homelessnessact.org.uk. The Usability Company carried
out a thorough usability evaluation of both websites. The findings
from the evaluation will feed the next phase of development for
each website.
Joe Barrell, Website Manager at Shelter explained:
"Shelter is developing a range of new online services and
information resources. As with any web development project, the
success of the work we are doing depends on a clear understanding
of the needs and expectations of our audiences. We therefore
required a detailed and specific evaluation of how they use our
websites. The best way to make this evaluation is through
user-testing."
The Usability Company offers a special charities rate card that
enables organisations such as Shelter to benefit from independent,
business-focused usability services within the constraints of
limited budgets. This is particularly important to Shelter given
the wide diversity of its user groups, which include local
authority housing departments, Shelter supporters, and people with
any kind of housing problem.
Technology For Marketing 2003
This is a quick reminder that we will be appearing at the
Technology For Marketing 2003 conference and exhibition to be held
at Olympia 11th and 12th February. You can find us on stand D95
and we will be demonstrating Usability Evaluation techniques live
on the stand, plus the very latest in online usability and market
research technologies.
Recruitment
Applications have now closed for the position of Marketing
Manager and we are hopeful that we can make the appointment from
the high quality of candidates that applied.
In the meantime and as promised last month, we can now reveal
the identity of our new Usability Specialist. She is someone who
will be known to many of you, as she is probably one of the
best-qualified and most experienced usability consultants in the
UK. She is of course Lisa Halabi. We will ask Lisa to write a
short review of her first month for you in next months USEworthy.
and Finally...
Catriona Campbell, CEO of The Usability Company, appeared on
the Radio 4 programme Shop Talk last week (Tuesday 28th January at
16.00 hours).
"Heather Payton and guests discuss why some new
technologies change our lives and others are confined to the
footnotes of history."
You can listen to the programme on the BBC website if you
missed it.
Usability and Web Analytics: ROI justification for an Internet
strategy
By Marty Carroll, Director of the Usability
Practice.
With an uncertain economic climate and tightening budgets the
time has come to cost justify usability activities. While most
site owners intuitively feel that commissioning usability research
is a fundamentally sound strategy it is becoming increasingly
difficult to release budgets when the value it brings is often
dubious.
However, the advent of sophisticated web analytics tools means
that a demonstrable return on investment is now obtainable when
performing usability research. A framework can be implemented that
allows for the measurement of site improvements over time with the
focus constantly on identified core metrics for the site. By
measuring the impact usability changes make to these metrics it is
possible to apply monetary values to changes as they impact the
site.
This paper proposes an approach whereby web analytic packages
and usability research complement each other to align site
improvements to commercial goals. You can download a copy by
following the link below. If you have any questions regarding
these issues please contact me via our website marty@theusabilitycompany.com
Usability
and Web Analytics: ROI justification for an Internet strategy
(PDF, file size 264KB)
You will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view this document. If you're using access
technology software on your computer, visit http://access.adobe.com/
for more information about using PDF files.
"Interface: User and Machine" Conference. November 2002
Chaired by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Chaired by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
The Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts,
Manufactures and Commerce held a one-day conference on
"Interface: User and Machine" instigated by the Duke of
Edinburgh in November, and The Usability Company was there. The
conference was such a success that a few speakers have been
invited to the Palace this month to relay any more news on the
subjects raised directly to the Prince.
The Prince had not realised, when he instigated the Conference
that the room would be filled by "the converted" and
that there were so many people in the design, marketing, and
indeed usability community aware of user-centred design.
He gave us all an insight into his life; attempting to use the
interfaces of some more recent technologies, he discovered that he
thought he "was alone in finding them difficult and kept my
problems to myself," he said. But, he concluded,
manufacturers must 'get a kick out of hiding the on-off switch'.
He complained of control panels that resemble the Rosetta Stone
and video recorders that can only be set by 'lying flat on the
floor with a torch in your teeth and a user manual'. Or indeed,
what he tends to do at the Palace, is grab a "handy 5 year
old, and get them to help".
The RSA assembled a great line-up of speakers from various
backgrounds. Roger Coleman, director of the Helen Hamlyn Research
Centre described the impact of a falling birth-rate worldwide, an
ageing population and the move towards social inclusion as a
philosophy. Universal design, he said, meant getting it right for
everybody.
Sir Christopher Frayling, chairman of the Design Council and
rector of the Royal College of Art, described the concept of UFOs
"unwanted feature options" he concluded that some people
– most probably technophiles - may enjoy "peeling the
technological onion" but, that many features are there not
because they are needed or useful but because the product is
under-designed and over-technologised and "Not
over-designed". Linn Products had a representative in the
audience, who described that as soon as they removed UFO's from
their home entertainment systems, their customers stopped buying
the products, because even though they may never use all of the
features offered, they perceived the value of the UFO's on
competitor systems as adding value. There has to be a happy
medium!
But, when it comes to accessibility of products and technology,
there can be no choice, but to make them work. David Yelding of
RICAbility, reiterated the concept of inclusive design. He
described how RICA had never tested a product in the UK, which
completely met their standards of "inclusive design".
A panel of industry experts also discussed usability and
accessibility issues in general. Catriona Campbell of The
Usability Company described what we feel is an important impetus
for organisations across the UK to start designing inclusively –
the Disability Discrimination Act revised code of practice, which
now makes it "unlawful for service providers, landlords and
other persons to discriminate against disabled people in certain
circumstances".
The Usability Company is invitd to represent the UK at the European
Usability Forum held in Vienna, December 2002
By Catriona Campbell, CEO
The European Usability Forum was set up by a project team
sponsored by the European Commission to consolidate various views
on the field of Usability or Human Computer Interaction in Europe,
and it served as a forum to discuss respective experiences and
expectations for the industry for collaboration across Europe. We
also concluded that there were a number of projects for which we
would seek European funding, to enable Europe to become a
leading force in new and evolving usability initiatives and
research.
Representatives nominated to attend the forum included the UK,
Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Czech
Republic, the Netherlands, France and Italy.
The principle common understanding of the new forum is, that it
shall be a strategic entity which provides a clear and strong voice for
the HCI, usability and user centred design community. I was nominated by
my peers to lead the Communications and Public Awareness Sub
Group, one of six groups to support the initiatives across Europe.
I am delighted to be nominated by such a prestigious collection of
Usability experts for this very important role, and I look forward
to working with my peers to encourage best usability and
accessibility practice across Europe in the years to come. Having
met with my peers in the European Usability Forum, I believe that
by sharing methodologies and new initiatives, we really can raise
the level of European Usability expertise beyond the of the US.
I have also been nominated to serve on the following Sub
Groups; Innovation (specifically new Usability Tools research),
Policy, Lobbying and Regulation, and Accreditation, Knowledge,
Curriculum, Accessibility.
The European Usability Forum is set to meet regularly, with
meetings for 2003 organised, and more news to follow in these
newsletters.
Accessibility:
Four Part Series
Part Four: Moral Issues
"As long as companies and government agencies view
accessibility as solely a matter of complying with regulations and
technical specifications, rather than a way to support the work
practices and customer needs of people with disabilities, equal
opportunity will remain a travesty. Websites and intranets must
follow usability principles and make it easier for customers and
employees with disabilities to perform their tasks"
Jakob Nielsen, useit.com.
Disabled people, especially blind and partially sighted people,
are being excluded from one of the most important technological
breakthroughs of recent years. The ability to use the World Wide
Web to meet personal, education, information and shopping needs is
being denied to blind and partially sighted people by a lack of
'inclusive design'.
There are 1.7 million people in the UK who are blind and
partially sighted. Research shows serious sight loss often
curtails independent mobility and the ability to get the
information needed to participate fully in society.
The Internet has certainly been a positive, liberating force
for those disabled people who are equipped to use it. Once they
have gotten past the hurdle of having to setup any necessary
enabling technologies (specialized input/output devices and the
appropriate software such as Braille output, screen readers like
JAWS, voice recognition software, specialized keyboards,
wheelchair mounted switches for interacting with the software,
etc.) to take full advantage of the Internet, their disabilities
become transparent. It could reduce dependence on others and it
could give a community that is often excluded, a voice in the
'information society'. They can shop, bank, communicate, etc.
without other users knowing about their disabilities and without
those disabilities restraining or defining them as they tend to in
the physical world. Or they could, if enough sites were designed
to include these types of users.
Designers don't always get it right. Whether by ignorance or
shortsightedness many sites fall short of the accessibility
guidelines setup by the WAI (Web Access Initiative -
http://www.w3.org/WAI/). Many disabled people who make it onto the
Internet just don't find enough accessible sites to make it worth
their while. Many more don't even make it onto the Internet
because they just don't see the point. Those of us who are online
realize the vast wealth of information and facilities that can be
found and recognize how useful Internet based service could be to
disabled people. However, with so many inaccessible sites
contributing to the 'digital divide' it's a hard case to make.
Designers and developers need to realise that users may be
operating in contexts very different from their own:
- They may not be
able to see, hear, move, or may not be able to process some
types of information easily or at all.
- They may have
difficulty reading or comprehending text.
- They may not
have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
- They may have a
text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection.
- They may not
speak or understand fluently the language in which the document
is written.
- They may be in
a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or
interfered with (e.g., driving to work, working in a loud
environment, etc.).
- They may have
an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a
voice browser, or a different operating system.
Content developers must consider these different situations
during page design. While there are several situations to
consider, each accessible design choice generally benefits several
disability groups at once and the Web community as a whole. For
example, by using style sheets to control font styles and
eliminating the FONT element, HTML authors will have more control
over their pages, make those pages more accessible to people with
low vision, and by sharing the style sheets, will often shorten
page download times for all users.
For more information please see the WAI checklist of design
pointers for accessible websites.
The Accessibility issue is now rising to the fore for a variety
of reasons. The press coverage over IBM being sued because of
their inaccessible Olympics site; the potential implications of
the revised Code of Practice in the DDA (Disability Discrimination
Act) to Internet based providers of services - though as yet there
have been no prosecutions, is not a case of if a prosecution will
occur, but when and to whom; there is now a stronger business case
as more disabled users are online; the possible brand damage for
not creating accessible sites, especially for the more well known
brands and last, but not least, pressure from organisations
representing the interests of disabled people who now represent a
valuable and untapped market sector.
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